We spoke with 80-year-old maestro Lino Tagliapietra about his world-renowned glass art

Italian master glassblower Lino Tagliapietra has a thing for undulating shapes and eye-catching color. For those unfamiliar with his work, even a cursory Google image search makes this abundantly clear.

In a new installation titled "Metamorphosis," however, the 80-year-old artist created a series of open and closed glass forms in soft grays and whites. Featured at SOFA Chicago (the Sculpture, Objects and Functional Art fair, Nov. 7-9, at Navy Pier) and reflecting the various stages of a butterfly — pupae, cocoon, flight — the work is no less stunning than his multicolored pieces and, in fact, reflects how Tagliapietra has embraced reinvention and transformation throughout his decades-long career.

On Nov. 8, from 5-8 p.m., Schantz Galleries hosted a meet-and-greet with the artist at SOFA (booth #607), which doubled as a kind of 80th birthday celebration. We recently spoke with the accomplished octogenarian — widely considered the best glassblower in the world — from his home in Seattle, Wash., where he lives when not in Venice. Following is an edited transcript:

Q: You've had an incredibly productive career. When did you develop an interest in glassblowing?

A: I've been at it for almost 70 years. It started when I was a young apprentice and had a very good teacher. I didn't go to any art school. My education took place in the evening after work (in the glass factories of Murano, Italy). I paid a lot of attention to color and developed my own sense of it. And then I learned to play with color combinations and found a couple of books on combining colors that I used as a reference.

Q: You've experimented with color throughout your career in glassmaking, but your new series features a softer palette of grays and whites. What inspired that shift?

A: A long time ago I used a lot of monochromatic colors. In the 1970s I did a lot of black and white pieces that were very serious. Then I became very sick (with a thyroid condition) and needed radiation. It took time to recover, and when I came away from that experience, it was like a creative explosion. I had a lot more energy to explore new work, and I needed to use more color: Sky blue, aquamarine, purples, yellows ... Recently I was influenced by a black-and-white exhibition at the MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles) and decided to return to that. The black and white, I must say, is always something I've liked. Whether I'm using monochrome or multiple (hues), decisions about color are very important to me.

Q: What inspires your approach to color, besides the books you mentioned?

A: My favorite artist is (Italian painter and sculptor) Lucio Fontana, who used bold colors, and (Dutch painter Piet) Mondrian. It's strange, though. I like another Italian guy (painter and printmaker) Giorgio Morandi, who used very little color, and (Slovenian graphic artist and painter) Lojze Spacal, whose works are practically black and white. I am Venetian, and there's a lot of color in the city. I'm lucky to live there because we have the Venice Biennale, where I learned about modern art.

Q: Glass art has become increasingly popular in home decor. What makes for a great piece?

A: For me, glass is a culture — a tradition, if you like, stretching back thousands of years.But (glass art) doesn't have to be perfectly done. To really emphasize the beauty of colors and shapes, it's more important that there be spirit in the works — an expression of what the artist feels in the moment.

Q: If you hadn't been a glassblower all these years, what would you have been doing?

A: I would've liked to play music — I miss playing guitar. I would like to cook. But to be honest, I think the only thing I've ever wanted to do is blow glass. I am very, very glad to have this career.